Tiny Tuesday X Two

In the northern hemosphere, there's really not a better month of the year than this one for insects - at least in my opinion.  And insects are (also in my opinion) such a wonderful subject for macro photography.  Challenging, interesting, and always showing me something new.

Today I got a two-fer which is always nice.  The ubiquitous Honey Bee (Genus Apis) is familiar sight in much of the world.  The second insect is a tiny Wedge shaped Beetle (M. limbata) a new discovery for me and featured on last Friday's blip.  This one happens to be a female, lacking the fancy feathery headgear of her male counterpart.  I have Mountain Mint and another native type of mint in my pollinator garden and it is just an amazing attractant for all kinds of bees, wasps and the odd fancy beetle.  

Speaking of my pollinator garden...the large one that Hubs and I added almost 2 years ago has come into its own this summer.  There are insects all over and now that some of the flowering plants are starting to go to seed, the goldfinches are on hand chowing down on seeds.  I have to say that this garden has exceeded all my expectations and I love sitting out there with a camera (or two).  

Took MIL to the cardiologist for a quick test today.  I stayed in the room while they did it, and she did really well.  Her appetite is back now and this week she is full of sass, which is wonderful.  She's still in PT every day and it remains to be seen if she'll get back to a walker or not.  But at least she's energetic and happy this week.  

Thanks to Osuzanna for hosting Tiny Tuesday this month. I suspect she'll have a tough job narrowing down her favorites this week.  

TTFN
Debbi

PS:  And great news - it looks like my first Monarchs are going to emerge tomorrow!  Four, possibly five.